Save the Heroes
by vickinoey
Summary: After their babysitting business runs dry, Sam and Cat find themselves in a tight financial spot. Cat is urged by Sam to ask her parents to lend them some money to hold them over. However, Cat instead invites them to stay for the weekend. However, this invitation brings up emotions that Sam would rather not face.
1. Chapter 1

Cat Valentine. Honestly, what could we say about the lamb? She's always been the kind of person that is so easy to insult, and yet so easy to love. There really is nothing under those cherry locks. She's no more complex than the creature she was named after, and that is perhaps what draws people to her. Cat's just as empty and sweet as the chocolate bunnies that she munches on until she vomits every Easter.

She was constantly in a state of wandering. Her eyes could never quite find what her brain was searching for. When she wasn't smiling and clapping at the world and its most trivial moments, rest assured that she had her eyebrows cocked up and head on a swivel as she continued her search for absolutely nothing.

"What's wrong kid?" Sam asked. Cat had stepped into the kitchen five minutes ago and had remained in the same spot.

Cat looked up from the floor and blinked a couple of times. Just by seeing the way her lips pursed and her ebony eyes suddenly focus, it was easy to say that the answer wouldn't be simple.

"I want to make a brownie pie" her tiny voice crooned casually.

Sam took the skin between her eyes and pinched it lightly. She then moved her slender fingers over the buttons on the TV remote until the noise ceased. She released a bit of steam from her nose and turned her head towards her friend.

"What… is a brownie pie?" she asked, praying that she wouldn't receive an answer.

Without missing a beat, Cat went into full detail.

"It's a pie tin filled with brownie mix. But it's not just brownies like brownies. I want to put pie crust over the brownie mix, and then bake it together. So then, we can have brownies and pie at the same time!" It only took moments for Cat's face to go from confused deer, elated beauty, back to confused deer.

Sam nodded. "That's actually a pretty good idea. What's wrong?"

"We're out of money," Cat sighed. "I didn't know what to do, so I was just going to pretend to bake. But then I realized that I'm an adult, so I just hung out in the kitchen like my mom always did."

"First off, you're hardly an adult," Sam explained. "Second of all, how are we out of money?"

"You spent all the money on chicken," Cat said in an irritated crescendo.

Sam stood up.

"I did not!"

"You have a shirt that says three hundred buck-buck-buckets of chicken. We only had three hundred dollars!"

Sam sat down in defeat.

"What even happened to all the buckets?" Cat asked.

"I… ate them," Sam said hesitantly.

Though not too abnormal, it was certainly an impressive number even for Sam. Perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of life was how Sam stayed so thin. Her tiny stomach was always perfectly toned, and it was rare to see a pimple on her teenage skin.

Cat simply didn't have the energy to be annoyed, and just sat down on the couch next to her friend. Her entire body sagged. Sam stuck out her hand and put in on top of Cat's head.

"We can ask your Nona to lend us something," said Sam.

Cat shook her head.

"We've already asked her three times in these past two months. That's just rude," Cat answered.

Sam wanted to argue with Cat about how it would be fine, but she didn't want to burden her friend any more.

"Maybe… maybe Dice has some extra cash," Sam said with feigned enthusiasm.

Once again, Cat shook her head.

"I still owe him for letting me pet the dolphin."

"Oh yeah. I loved that dolphin. He ate Goomer's vest," Sam reminisced.

Cat released her lungs one last time.

"I think I'm going to have to ask my parents," she said.

That also seemed rude to her, but there really was no other way. They only had one surefire babysitting gig lined up this month, and it wasn't going to pay nearly enough for rent. Even with other jobs, they weren't going to make it this month.

"That's probably a good idea," answered Sam tenderly.

Cat's eyes once again glazed out, but this time, there was some thought behind them. There were gears turning in her little mind, and though Sam would never understand, she never removed her hand from the top of her head.

"It's fine. They've sent us stuff before. They won't mind 500 bucks, and we're going to pay them back," Sam tried to comfort.

"I know," said Cat. "I just don't like to bother them. They spend so much to keep my brother locked up." She looked down. "I just don't want to disappoint them. I want to be the good kid."

Cat was one of those people that had horrible leaks in her eyes. She was a constant bundle of tears, smiles, laughs, screams, and questions. Suffice to say, it didn't take much to make her cry. That being said, what was worse than her crying was when she was defeated. It was an emotion that Cat herself didn't understand. When she was defeated, she basically didn't know that she was sad or bothered. Sam couldn't ever stand it.

"You are a good kid," Sam answered. She gave one final rub to Cat's hair and got up from the couch. She reached under the table and pulled out her motorcycle helmet.

"Before you call them, do you want to go to the park?"

Cat began to emotionally glow "will the homeless guy with the parrot be there?"

"We can only hope," said Sam.

With that, Cat took off out the door. Sam put the helmet over her sandy hair she looked back at the kitchen and bit her lip. She took just a moment to revel in the absolute silence before spreading the corners of her lips upwards and heading outside.

It was typical California weather. In a lot of ways, Sam kind of missed the instability of Seattle's weather. There was something comforting to her about the rain. Though she had to admit that the sun felt pretty good, even if she would sweat in her helmet. Cat had another helmet specially made in pink and she placed it over her skull as well. Sam straddled around the leather seat the made the engine purr. They took off towards the park.

People always complained about Sam's motorcycle being too loud. She did not agree. What was truly loud was Cat's unending laughter and cries of "wheee" during each ride. Sometimes it was so loud that Sam had to yell at her. They had ridden it a million times, and yet it was always new to Cat.

Sam stopped her bike by a curb and put a couple of fake quarters into the meter. She had recently learned how to make counterfeit money, and although it was a federal offense, she used a meter that was rather generous with its time anyways. A lot of people tried to fool the ones next to the park because they were so undeniably broken. One time someone even left a tooth and it took it.

Cat's scrawny legs propelled her towards the beige sand. Sam took after her and called out to her like a dog that didn't know how to use a leash.

"Cat. Cat. Cat! Slow down! Cat!"

Cat was only a little younger than Sam, but she really was a twelve year old in a teenager's body. Sam could never fathom how someone could remain so ignorant for so long. Then again, Sam could hardly say that she was any more mature. Both of them were happily climbing on playground equipment with the little kids who had just gotten out of the school. Fundamentally, the only difference was that Cat would admit her elation. Sam still tried to play it cool. But a stupid smile always ended up coming out of both of them.

Cat sat on a tire swing and Sam gripped onto the chains. The muscles on her arms tightened and she pushed her legs forward. At first, the spinning was easy, but Sam's pure strength propelled it pretty fast. The tire was no longer orbiting in a path, rather it was wobbling as the cycle steepened. Even though Cat was basically hanging on for dear life, her teeth were still shimmering brightly and her laughing never ceased. Even after the chain broke and she was soaring, she didn't lose her smile until she was surrounded by a cloud of sand. The tire was still chained even if Cat no longer was, and the sheer recoil from the snap of the chain sent it barreling into Sam's chest, knocking her and her lungs to the ground. Sam was on her back in the dirty sand, while Cat was on her side.

The wind was knocked out of Sam, and she was still stunned. It didn't take much for Cat to recover. After dusting herself off and cracking her shoulder which would certainly hurt in the morning, she spun around with her arms out in the air and yelled, "that was sooo cool!" Sam remained in the sand. Cat spun over to Sam like a helicopter and hovered over her.

"Sam, we should do that again," she pleaded.

Sam wanted to glare at her, but her face was frozen.

"C'mon Sam, let's go again," Cat crooned.

Sam still didn't say anything. A tiny part of her face twitched, but that still didn't quite get the memo across.

"Saaaam," Cat whined.

With all of her might, Sam found her voice somewhere deep in her chest.

"Cat," she said in a rasp.

Cat stopped and her face became a little more serious, "What?"

"Shut up," Sam whispered.

Though a bit hurt, it hardly affected the red head. She reached down to her friend and hoisted her up. Sam was still a bit weary on her feet, but she soon found her balance. The tire swing looked crippled as it hung on two measly chains. It actually looked like another one was going to break as well. A bunch of little kids ran up to them to see the commotion.

"Hey, you broke the tire swing," said a chubby little kid with a lime green shirt.

"I'm really sorry," answered Cat sincerely.

"Well, are you going to fix it?" asked a red headed boy.

Cat got down on one knee and looked at the boy straight in the eye. "I don't know how to fix it. But I can go get the park guy."

The red headed kid rolled his eyes "You should fix it. You should buy another one."

Sam stepped in and made no effort to seem smaller, "We don't have the money. We said, 'we're sorry'. We're going to go get the park ranger."

"Well I'm going to go tell him that you did it on purpose," he taunted.

This time, Sam did get on her knees and got as close to his face as she could. Her smile was so pleasant with her giant blue eyes and golden hair. That's why it was so surprising when she hissed right into the kid's face and pushed him over.

"Run," Sam instructed as they took off. They hopped on her motorcycle and drove far away from the park. After a couple of blocks, they stopped by a snow cone shack with a rusty and faded sign and a very large man crammed inside. They only had four flavors: cherry, lemon, vanilla, and salt. Cat ordered cherry while Sam settled on lemon.

While they sat at the moldy picnic table, they didn't speak much. Their misplaced hair and pink cheeks implied wrong doing. However, it was Cat that eventually broke the silence.

"We didn't get to see the homeless guy," she uttered in a way that implied she wasn't sure.

"Yeah… sorry. About that." Sam answered tepidly.

They took a couple more bites of their cones. They tasted bitter like cough drops. Perhaps they used the same flavoring.

"Are you mad?" asked Sam.

Cat smiled at her, "No. That was a lot of fun. I even liked it when you hissed at the kid. But I feel bad about breaking the swing."

Sam smiled back at her, "But we didn't break the swing."

Cat cocked her head.

"That red headed kid went so fast that he hit his head. He broke the swing."

Cat scowled, "I don't understand why we don't have more babysitting jobs, you are so good with children," she droned.

Sam responded by taking a bite of her friend's snow cone.

"Hey!"

"Aw, yours is worse," Sam said as she spit it onto the asphalt.

Cat let out a noise that could only be compared to an old bull. Cat went and threw it away. While walking back, a little blood was on Sam's shirt. She went up behind her and grabbed her arm.

"Sam, you're bleeding." Her motherly instincts kicked in.

Without missing a beat, Sam slapped her hands away like a nun.

"Don't touch that," she instructed with severity.

"Sorry," said Cat. "Should we take care of it?"

Sam was wiping off Cat's hands and tried to wipe away what was on her elbow onto her shirt.

"Yeah, let's go home," Sam muttered.

"No, let's do something else fun!" Cat protested.

"Like what? We got kicked out of the park, and we have no money," Sam moaned.

Cat pondered for a brief second.

"We could… take pictures of trees. And then we…" a light went off in her head. "We can give them to people less fortunate than us."

Sam's arms folded and her foot started tapping.

"Cat?"

"Yes pretty Sam?"

"Are you trying to get out of calling your parents?"

Cat attempted to act appalled

"What?! No! That is not a thing that I would try."

It only took a couple seconds of Sam's icy stare to collapse her little façade.

"Yes," she answered in defeat.

Sam wrapped her fingers around her friend's little wrist. "C'mon, let's go."

They hopped onto the back of Sam's bike, and they went back to their home. Cat sat on the couch as the clock seemed to loudly tick away. Her eyes were so focused on her phone that Sam was initially scared that she was broken. Even though Sam was loudly rummaging through the kitchen drawer, Sam still called out to her friend.

"You gotta do it," Sam taunted.

Cat didn't answer. Sam then slammed the drawer shut, and this made Cat jump a little.

"Cat!" she called out. "C'mon, I know that you don't want to. But we need money right now."

Sam's voice was very stern and had a bit of a growl to it. The redhead shrunk and put her head down as she dialed the number. She was way more afraid of Sam yelling at her than her parents being a little cross. As the dial tone rang into her ear, she scurried into her bedroom, leaving Sam alone in the kitchen.

Sam pulled a piece of paper from the drawer she was looking through. Her heart was beating fast like a fly trapped in a car and she kept wringing her available hand. The once sharp edges of the paper had been worn down to something too soft and weak to be considered paper anymore. Air filled Sam's lungs, only for her to release it from her nose in a large burst. It didn't feel like that long, but Cat's voice was the one thing that could break through any thought.

"Saaaaam!" she cried with a vibrato.

"Uh, what?" Sam asked as she transitioned from her thoughts to the thoughtless.

Cat's smile was stretched upwards with almost every tooth visible. It kind of looked like she was skipping rope. All her limbs were going in any entirely different direction.

"Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam."

"Calm down, did your parents win the lottery or something?"

"No, better!"

Sam had learned long ago that if Cat every said that something was "better" it was in fact always going to be worse.

"My parents are going to come visit this weekend. They're going to come on a flight tomorrow and be here by the evening. And they're going to bring the money. Sam, you me, and my family are going to have so much fun."

"Oh joy," Sam moaned without even an attempt to sound enthused. However, Cat was too happy to believe that anyone else could be miserable. She was still jumping in the air and waving her arms as she took off towards the bed room.

"This is going to be the best weekend EVAR!"

Sam grinded her teeth together and gripped the little piece of paper in her fist. Part of her wanted to cast it into the trash can, but it stayed magnetized in her hand. Instead, she just shoved it back into the little drawer. In anger, she washed the dishes.

"Hey," called a little voice followed by the distinct slam of a door. Sam turned around to see an afro on top of a tiny little head. The boy tossed his back pack onto the hard wooden floor. "Woah, you're doing dishes" he said with half sarcasm, half legitimate curiosity.

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to hit you with a dish. What do you want Dice?"

He put his hands up and backed away a few steps.

"What's up with you?" He asked.

Sam sighed. "Cat's parents are coming to visit this weekend."

"So?" asked Dice. "It's not like you have any babysitting gigs, and it's not like you're doing anything else right now."

Sam barked at him, "Hey! I do plenty around here!" She threw the dish that she had been washing for half an hour into the suds. "Besides, maybe I just don't want them to visit. I never make my family visit, why should Cat?"

When she heard her name, the red head rushed out of her room and almost slipped on the rug in the hallway, but caught herself on the wall. She spotted Dice and rushed over to him with open arms. She held his little body as far up to the ceiling as her bony arms could muster.

"Diiiiice! My mom and dad are going to visit. I'm going to invite Nona, and Goomer, and Sam, and we're all going to eat at Bots tomorrow so that they can see how cool my new friends are."

"Nona's your grand…." he wasn't able to finish his thought. He found himself being swung around in the air before being set down. Cat rushed back into her room with her giggling almost maniacal. Dice fixed his hair as he tried to find his footing again. He looked over in the direction of the room, and then back at Sam.

"She doesn't seem too broken up by it."

He was then met by a glob of spit in his thick locks. Even though he was disgusted, the look on Sam's face made his gaping mouth shut.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It only figured that the one night that Sam had the room to herself Cat would still manage to make a ton of noise. Through the thin walls, Cat's scampering little feet were becoming more and more like bulldozers. Sam continually flexed her muscles to try and keep herself from punching her friend through the wall, but as the moon moved higher in the sky, she was running out of reasons not to.

"CAAAAAAAT," She finally screamed.

A tiny little voice poked out. "What?"

"Go to bed!" Sam yelled.

There were a few seconds of silence, followed by her roommate's shuffling feet. She walked into the dark room and crawled into bed.  
"I'm sorry Sam," she said sweetly.

Sam didn't answer.

"I'm just really excited. I haven't seen my parents for a really long time."

Sam shifted in her bed, but still kept silent. Cat didn't stop talking though.

"I've always wanted my parents to be proud of me. They're really quiet about certain things. It's hard to tell when they are happy or sad, but I like to try and make them smile. Because I love them a lot. I want everything to look perfect so they know that I'm doing good."

Sam's breathing changed and it was a little louder, so Cat made an assumption that she was asleep. She eventually followed suit.

It rolled over to the next day, which happened to be another warm Friday. Sam had learned to sleep through Cat's alarm clock when she had to get up for school, but Sam didn't know how to sleep through a vacuum. The thundering suck invaded her dreams and pushed her whole body upwards. Cat was in a pink apron with apples on it and she appeared to be laughing at the cleaning utensil as she dragged it across the floor.

"Cat!" Sam yelled with a red face.

Cat turned off the vacuum and kept her unwavering smile.

"Good morning," she sang.

That, combined with Sam's unkempt hair and steadily growing mouth turned Sam into a raging monster.

"First off, you should know not to wake me up. Second of all, you're supposed to be at school, what are you doing at home, vacuuming our bedroom?"

The girl was still way too blissful to fully understand the extent of Sam's rage. If anything, she seemed confused by her questions.

"Well, you wouldn't let me get ready last night so now I am. I don't have a test or anything today, so I decided to skip."

Sam fists clenched together and she stormed out of the room. "That's it," she cried as she entered the living room. Cat went after her.

"Why are you so mean today?" Cat asked innocently.

Honestly, Sam didn't really know why. But that didn't stop her from getting angrier.

"Because Cat, you don't just do things without talking to me. We're supposed to be roommates, you don't just do things without talking to me first."

"All of this because a vacuum cleaner?" Cat asked just as confused.

Sam tensed up her body and tried to calm herself. It barely worked.

"No Cat, it's not because of the _vacuum cleaner_" she mocked Cat at the words vacuum cleaner. "It's because you invited your parents to stay with us without even running it by me first."

Cat's stance changed to something more stable as soon as she figured out it was a real argument.

"You're the one who forced me to call my parents," she accused.

Sam retorted, "I told you to ask them for money, not to invite your whole bloodline over for a tea party."

"What's the big deal? I'm sorry that it was a little rude, but it's no reason to be hollering at me," Cat said still somewhat serious.

Sam came up with an argument on the spot, though she herself didn't really understand it. "We're not supposed to do things behind each other's backs."

Cat immediately started yelling and crying.

"Says you. You're the one who started all of this by buying all that chicken. And you know what? That T-shirt you got isn't even real. I found the puffy paint when I was cleaning up last night. So that's two lies. You're a double liar."

"I don't need to take this!" Sam yelled. "Don't wait up for me." She grabbed her motorcycle helmet and slammed the door.

Cat stood in the living room shaking her fists as little tears streamed down her cheeks. Now her parents wouldn't get to meet her awesome roommate. Now everything was ruined. Out of all of them, she wanted her mom and dad to meet Sam. Sam was like her sister, and her sister should know her parents. Not only that, but now her parents would also think she was fibbing. Even when the doorbell rang, Cat didn't cry out 'ding-dong' instead, she went and answered the door silently.

Her Nona stood in the doorway with a sunny expression. She was cloaked in a bright blue blouse that could rival Cat's clothes in terms of color. She had her normal sing song voice high in bloom.

"Hello-"she sang. It didn't cheer Cat up though, so she stormed towards the couch.

"Oh sweetheart, what's wrong?" asked Nona as she put her hand on her granddaughter's shoulder.

"S-Sam and I had a really big fight," Cat sobbed.

"Oh honey," said Nona. She wrapped her arms around the crying girl. "I'm sure it will be alright. You know how head strong Sam is, you two will patch it up and be right as rain."

That made Cat smile as she wiped the goo from her nose. "Okay," she crooned with a bit more cheer. However, she was suddenly curious "Nona, what are you doing here? When I called you this morning, I said be here at eight. Mom and dad are getting here at six, so I want to give them time to relax before we go eat."

Nona shifted a bit and stopped smiling. Her voice was also more synthetic.

"Well, sweetie, I needed to stop by to tell you that I can't make it tonight. I have a date."  
"A date?" Cat asked.

"Yes, it's with a Mexican Luchador that I have been courting for a while. The problem is that he's going back to Mexico real soon, and this is the only night he's free."

Cat's shoulders dropped. "Oh."

Nona tried to touch her again, but Cat shrugged her off.

"But I wanted to make sure to tell you to give them my love, and that I really wanted to make it. They'll understand."

"Yeah, they'll understand," Cat mimicked lifelessly.

"Don't be so glum, chum" Nona said as she dismissed her granddaughter and kissed her head. "It will still be a ton of fun."

"Yeah," Cat answered, not convinced. Nona then left Cat sitting on the couch in a silly apron, completely alone.

Meanwhile, Sam spent her day riding around LA and wreaking havoc. The mayhem ranged from chucking the awful snow cones at people from her bike, to kicking a traveling Mounty in the shins and stealing his golden shoulder pads. Nothing was helping her though. Nothing was getting rid of Sam's scowl or making her heart beat any slower. She soon found herself at the park again on top of the slide. As soon as she set foot on the sand, kids fled in all directions. So at this rate, Sam found herself very alone. Time didn't seem to be moving very quickly, or at all. She suddenly found that it was already five o' clock and two figures, one giant and one small approached her from the distance.

"Sam!" Dice cried out as he ran towards her. She wanted to try and hide, but she was defeated by her own complacency. The big guy following Dice was much too large to get onto the equipment with her, but he was tall enough to where his face was still poking through the bars. Dice simply swung himself up to the platform.

"Sam, I've been looking for you, I need some advice."

"Shoot," Sam mumbled.

Dice then pulled two knives out of his pocket.

"It's about Cat's brother. If he snaps, which knife would be more appropriate, the green one or the blue one? Goomer can protect himself of course, but I'm still just a kid. On one hand, the green knife is a lot sharper and can do more damage, but I might want to use the blue one because I don't want to ki-"

"Cat's brother isn't coming. And it doesn't concern me anyways because neither am I," Sam growled.

Dice rolled his eyes. "Are you still mad about meeting Cat's parents?"

"No," Sam answered defensively. "Cat and I just had a really big fight this morning. And I don't want to go."

"What was the fight about?" Goomer asked in a big, dumb drawl.

"I can only guess," Dice judged.

"I'm gonna sock you, kid. It's not about me having to meet her parents," Sam defended though her uncertainty. "It was about respect. She disrespected me."

"What, by god forbid inviting her parents whom she hasn't seen in forever over?" Dice asked aggressively.

"Look, you don't get it." Not even Sam got it.

"What do I not get?" Goomer asked calmly as he tried to assess the situation.

"You don't get what it's like to live alone. When you become independent, you call your parents for money and you send them an email on their birthday. You don't have them over to hang out with your friends."

"I live on my own," Goomer said with only a little offense taken.

"You're hardly independent. Your best friend is a twelve year old," Sam mocked. Goomer still wasn't hurt and instead agreed. Dice had been awfully quiet during the exchange, but he finally popped in.

"Oh, I get it. You're jealous of Cat."

Sam didn't even dignify that with an answer.

"Your mom never writes or talks to you. You're bitter and taking it out on your friend. That's pretty low, Puckett."

Instead of hitting him, Sam stormed off. She ran towards her motorcycle and revved up the engine, all the while she furiously rubbed her face. Then, she took off into the daylight. After that she rode around for a couple of hours. While on her bike, she had time to think.

_You can't leave it like this Puckett. You're better than that._

By this point, Cat had already left in a cab to go pick up her parents, or at least, that's what Sam assumed. Sam decided to stop by the grocery store and pick up some ingredients. Even though she didn't know how to make pie crust, she knew exactly how to make brownies. She had to waste quite a bit of time on her Pear Phone in order to find out what was needed to make crust from scratch. She also picked up some cheap kitchen knives, even though they didn't really need them for the recipe. They just seemed nice to have as their own had become dull. When seven thirty rolled around, Sam prayed that she wouldn't be too late. Even though she was still in her pajamas from this morning, there was no way she would have the time to go back and change. At exactly 8:01, she arrived at Bots with beads of sweat running down her face. To her relief, the Valentine's weren't there yet either. So she sat at a table and waited.

And waited. And waited. And waited. Six plates of fries and two hours later, Sam was finally kicked out by the robot wait staff. She wanted to stand out there and wait a little longer, but she finally accepted that nobody was coming. The groceries that weighed on her arms just reminded her how hurt her feelings were. Nonetheless, she couldn't afford to waste them. She put them on the back of her bike and took off. When she finally got home, her feet were aching.

Sam expected the apartment to still be dark when she walked in, so she was almost blinded by the lights. She was also taken aback by the dozens upon dozens of balloons dotted across the floor as they lazily danced in the breeze of the door. There in the middle of the couch was Cat staring down at the floor, barely even blinking.

"Hey Sam," she said in a monotone. That just annoyed Sam.

"What, did you throw a party without me?" Sam hissed.

Cat squeezed her face together. "No," she whispered. Sam wasn't done though.

"Where is everyone? Are they asleep or something?" Something then hit her like a fire ball. "Did you lend them our room?" Sam yelled.

"I… I just told everyone to go home," Cat stuttered quietly.

This piqued Sam's interest. "Go home? You told your parents… to go home?" For once, she was the one who was confused.

Cat bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes for a second. "No, I told Dice and Goomer not to come over."

That still didn't explain her parents, but Sam decided to play the game anyways.

"Why did you tell them that?"

Cat's face scrunched up and her voice started to quiver. "Because my parents aren't coming today."

Sam dropped her offense and walked over to comfort her friend even though she was still very angry with her. "Don't worry, kid. They can reschedule."

Cat shook her head and leaned it forward. "They said that it wouldn't be a worthwhile trip right now. They said they aren't coming home any time soon."

Sam just watched her friend as her frown deepened. She didn't know what to say.

"But don't worry, they are going to wire us the money, so it's all okay," Cat said with a smile that only made the whole thing sadder. Her eyes were held so tight that little crow's feet were forming in the corners. Her mouth muscles were actually starting to ache from her artificial smile. Sam just stared at her.

"So… your parents just ditched you?"

"Oh no," Cat defended. "They just don't have the time. They promised they would see me, and they won't break a promise. I just need to wait for them to have time."

Sam was hesitant to say anything because she wasn't really sure what she was feeling. But she just had to pipe up.

"Cat, they didn't even set a date or anything. Like, did they just overlook this?" Sam asked with concern.

Cat started shaking her head again. "No, no, I pushed them too hard. They said that they were going to go on vacation for a while to get away from my brother. They were going to Hawaii, but I still have school so I can't go to Hawaii," she let out a fake laugh. _It's funny because I skipped school to clean the house_, she thought. "So when they said that, I asked them to come out for a couple days, because they planned to be gone for two weeks and it didn't seem like that much time."

"So your parents are too busy… on their vacation?" Sam asked skeptically.

"Yes. Yes, that's right," Cat answered more to herself than Sam.

Sam's voice instantly switched from skeptical to sympathetic and tender.

"Cat… did you ever think that maybe… your parents aren't very nice?"

Cat stood up started yelling.

"No Sam, I didn't ever think that. They're parents, and I love them. They are just really busy is all."

Sam stood up and put her hands out to her friend.

"Cat, your parents promised to come see you on their vacation and then cancelled not even a day later. They didn't move it to later in their vacation or even move it forward at all." Sam tried to speak slowly.

"What are you saying?" Cat snapped.

"I'm saying," Sam paused. She wasn't even sure how to break the news to the poor little thing. "I'm saying that maybe your parents have no intention of coming back."

Cat closed her eyes tight again and yelled out, "Shut up!"

"Cat-" Sam started.

"Shut up!" Cat yelled as she clasped her ears over her ears.

Sam walked over to her and touched her hair. "Cat, I'm just telling the truth."

Cat violently shook Sam's hand off and started walking away with her ears still covered. She just kept repeating "Shut up, shut up, shut up," as she paced in a circle around the couch. Sam tried to reach out to her, but Cat was doing everything to remove herself from the world. Her whole torso went left to right as though she was dancing and she just couldn't get herself to stop yelling. Not even the noise of her screaming could stop the tears from eventually escaping from their dark prisons. As soon as the second tear ran off her chin, Cat's whole body collapsed on the couch. Her breathing was replaced with sobbing, and soon enough her chorus of "shut up" tapered off into more gasps for air.

She seemed so fragile that Sam was afraid to go near her. Cat was so much like a figurine made with nothing but sugar. Sam's very touch could either set her free from her rigidness, or could break her and never let her be put back together depending on how you looked at it. Sam eventually sat on the couch, but remained far enough from her friend's body heat. She stuck out a hand, but it was still only lukewarm.

"Hey kid, it's all fine. You don't need them. They sent us money, right? That's what counts."

Cat looked up again and gave another ghostly smile. "Yeah, that's right. I don't need them." She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't need them!" She screamed before once again falling into a pile of tears.

She was beginning to fold into her own lap, and Sam tried to pull her out. Though met with a lot of resistance, Cat was eventually pulled upright. Their faces accidentally came in very close and their eyes met. The whites of the little redhead's eyes were stained with pink and they were starting to swell at the corners. Her lips hung open a little bit but the bottom one stopped quivering for a moment just to give her some time to breathe. Sam's heart didn't beat for three whole seconds. The moment their eyes finally met, Sam understood Cat, and a whole lot of pain entered her subconscious. Some unknown force of nature pushed Sam around Cat, who she gripped like she might float away. She could actually feel Cat's muscles tense when she cried.

Cat's voice was squawking something out, but Sam couldn't understand because it was muffled from her emotions. Not only that, but she was speaking into Sam's hair, which made it even harder. Sam didn't dare to ask her to repeat herself. She just kept stroking her and assuring her that she would be okay. Finally, something audible was able to break through that tiny voice.

"How come nobody wants me?"

Sam just squeezed her tighter and just tried to brush the question aside. "Don't say that. That's not true at all."

"But it is," whimpered Cat. "You just said my parents aren't coming back for me. They are willing to go across the country for my brother, but won't even take me with them. They would rather have me be famous than with them. They didn't even send me to nice people. Heck, not even my mean aunt and uncle wanted me. When I went missing they didn't report me or anything."

"Your parents aren't everyone. You have a ton of friends," Sam tried to explain.

"No I don't! My friends at school don't even talk to me anymore. Unless it's a project, I don't even see them. They keep me around because they feel sorry for me, not because they like me."

"You don't know that," said Sam.

"Yes I do," Cat squealed. "Have you ever seen them come over? Have you heard me tell one fun story about any of them? They don't like me anymore. They got tired of me. Everyone always gets tired of me. Even Nona. Nona couldn't even live with me for a couple months."

Sam just stroked her hair. How could she respond to this? How do you show someone that you love why you love them? "I'm not tired of you," Sam croaked out. Cat pulled her in tighter.

"Sam?" She whimpered.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you like me?"

"Well you're sweet, and you can cook-"

"No Sam. Why do you really like me?" Sam had never heard Cat this serious before. It was chilling.

In a way, she still didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to just try and keep up her argument, but she knew that she couldn't live with herself if she lied to her right now, even if it was to make her feel better.

"I'm not sure how to answer-" Sam started. However, she was interrupted by Cat's crying. Sam put her finger under her chin and pushed it up.

"But I'm going to try and explain, okay?"

Cat nodded and Sam shook her head and tried to gather her thoughts.

"Cat, I love you because you're my best friend."

A couple of seconds went by.

"Is that it?" Cat asked, disappointed.

"Yeah…" Sam stuttered.

Cat hung her head in shame, and Sam once again had to force it up.

"Listen. Sometimes love doesn't really make sense, especially when _I_ try to talk about it. All the things that matter to me, I can't put into words how or why they matter to me. I don't know how important they are to me until they are gone. And I know that I don't want to lose you. That's how I know I love you."

Cat's eyes were big and glassy. Sam couldn't get a read on them.

"And…" Sam started. "I need you. Because-" Sam stopped herself. She had never felt this vulnerable and it scared her. But she knew in her heart that she had to man up. "I don't have any parents either."

Sam started to feel herself tear up. Before she could even cry, Cat pulled her in close. At first, Sam was annoyed that she didn't instigate the hug, but it all melted away.

"So you do need me. Because we need each other. I love you, Sam," Cat whispered in a tiny melody.

Cat didn't know it at the time, but a tear really did fall from those big blue eyes. Sam stared through her friend's red hair and into the kitchen. She could see right through the counter and into the small junk drawer. Sam even saw past the junk. What she was looking at was a piece of paper frayed at its edges. No matter how beat-up the little document got, it didn't change the news printed on it. Each time Sam thought of what it said, it seemed like another second wasted in what it turns out would be her very short life.

She didn't want the hug to end, but eventually, Cat let up. She thanked Sam for cheering her up, and Sam tepidly accepted it.

"Are you coming to bed?" asked Cat.

Without looking at her, Sam answered. "No, I think I'm going to get rid of these balloons. You go on without me."

Cat responded with a dumb little smile. Right before she entered the doorframe, Sam called out to her.

"Cat. I love you too."

At the time she was too tired to comprehend it, but Cat could almost swear that Sam's voice cracked a little bit.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

It was easier to just throw the balloons into the back yard. She wasn't going to fully clean them up or anything, it was much easier to let them just get caught in the breeze. There was a part of Sam that wanted to pop them, but she restrained herself lest she become a hypocrite. A round purple one was trapped in between her fingers. The smooth surface stuck to the palms of her hands in a way that repulsed her. When she got to the yard again she attempted to toss it as hard as she could. However, it just floated to the ground as delicately as ever.

"Balloon," she mumbled.

In the living room, two more were left. One of them was green like a plastic Christmas tree, while the other one was red like the lights. Sam tried to convince herself that they were too heavy to lift, and she sunk onto the couch. Her eyes kept leaning towards the kitchen despite her best efforts. As time went on though her chest was getting even tighter. Soon enough, she just had to go into the kitchen and reread the doctor's note for the millionth time.

"To:

Ms. Puckett-"

_Now that's what I call bedside manner, _Sam thought.

"You have officially been diagnosed with Erythrocyte Toxium, or toxic blood. It's a rare virus of the blood. It is transmitted in the same way that may blood based viruses are. It can be caught from any exposure to bodily fluids. However, it is considered rare as there is only a small percentage of the population (0.15%) that the virus can survive and thrive in. It is unknown what makes this group of people susceptible to what would be a completely innocuous virus other than a gene.

Rather than slowly breaking down the body's functions, the virus simply infiltrates every single organ by carrying itself through the blood. It often remains dormant for over a decade. However, when the virus activates it can shut down entire organ systems at once.

For more information, visit:

.org"

_Well thank goodness I can get info from a website made in the DAMN NINETIES!_

Sam finally got the courage to tear the paper up. She cast the pieces into the trash can, all except the bottom with the web address. She just kind of looked at it for a while. She was suspicious at how primitively it was written. That, and she simply wasn't ready to deal with whatever this thing was.

_Three hundred dollars. Three hundred dollars for a letter and a website._

When her sister Melanie called telling her to get tested, Sam didn't think the news would get back to her so quickly. She thought she would have to wait forever to get a doctor and would have to wait even longer for the test results. It was the fact that her mom got hospitalized that made this a clear diagnosis. The doctor didn't know enough about it to even tell her what was going on. All she knew is that she wasn't healthy.

Her skinny fingers pluncked the clunky address into the search bar. The website wasn't as outdated as she initially thought it would be, but then again, all the information had to be from somewhat recent research. All of it seemed to be compiled by some guy who carried the virus.

**Symptoms:**

_**Yes, even before the organ failure, doctors have found some telltale signs that you might have toxic blood. You aren't guaranteed to have all of these.**_

_**-Increased appetite**_

_**-Difficulty gaining weight**_

_**-Decreased sensitivity to pain**_

_**- Insomnia**_

_**- High blood pressure**_

_**- Sensitivity to noise.**_

_**- Sensitivity to sweet tastes.**_

_**- Scoliosis**_

_**- Diabetes**_

**How did I get this?:**

_**Toxic Blood is just like many other blood based viruses like HIV or AIDS. It is spread through the blood and other fluids. With many people this virus would die out fairly quickly as human blood is generally not a favorable place for it to germinate. Some people, for whatever reason, lack the ability to combat it. It's extremely rare, but we are the unlucky ones.**_

_**What has made numbers of people with Toxic Blood rise in the past couple of years is the fact that it's entirely possible for it to be passed to a child if a woman with the virus is pregnant. That is, if the child happens to have the right genes.**_

**What does this mean?:**

_**Generally speaking, most people with Toxic Blood tend to live completely normal lives outside the symptoms mentioned above. They won't notice a difference until around the twelve year mark (though many people report longer). It is then that organ failure will be imminent. **_

_**What's tricky about Toxic Blood is that it can't be treated at all until organs actually begin to fail. For whatever reason, no drug is able to recognize the Toxic Blood until it is triggered. The actual trigger is unknown at this time. However, once it's triggered it is very volatile and fast. You might be strong enough to run a marathon one morning and end up in the hospital that evening for complete renal failure. Whatever the virus is, it's a very fast acting poison. Though symptoms of failure can be pushed back, it's unlikely for anyone to live past a month after the trigger has started as there is no way to slow it down.**_

The window was closed, and Sam was cold. She pressed her short fingernails into the palm of her hand. What could she possibly feel right now? On one hand, she was angry at her mother.

_You made me sick. You forced us to be born sick. I didn't touch a needle. Even though I could have gotten anything I wanted, I stayed away from it because I wanted to be healthy. Melanie too. You killed your little fucking princess. Bravo mommy. Bra-fucking-vo._

Sam slammed her fist onto the table and grunted to herself. "Fucking bitch."

She got up to make herself a sandwich. As she spread the ingredients across the bread _"increased appetite, increased appetite_" repeated in her head over and over again, taunting her.

_Like I could have guessed. I ate a lot. Sue me._

Still, she couldn't eat the sandwich anymore, so she threw it in the trash. Big mistake. They were already short on money. They couldn't afford to waste food anymore. She wasn't even sure that she would be able to visit her mom. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

_Damn it, Mom. Why are you so stupid? Why did you suck so much? Only you could catch something that no one else can._

Sam was compelled to pull the sandwich out of the trash, but in her hands was an inedible mess that leaked all over. It would have been barbaric to eat it anyways, but something about seeing its decimation made Sam anxious. She squeezed her fingers tight and it came through the cracks, back into the trash. It landed on top of the doctor's note, making it useless as well.

She washed her hands in the sink and was hypnotized by the mess as it circled the drain. The water lapped over her hands and cured them of their burning. Her hands weren't actually burning, but she did squeeze harder than she planned. It felt like that moment when a burn is exposed when the bandage gets changed. It was that confusing mix of pain and relief that distracted her if only for a moment. In an attempt to gather her thoughts, Sam turned off the lights and spread her body out across the couch. She didn't want to see Cat, even if she was asleep. It just reminded her of the clot in her brain.

Sam tossed and turned. There was no way to run from her problems, but thrashing was certainly helping. But all bodies get tired even if they may or may not have "an increased tolerance to pain". That symptom didn't even make sense, and it made Sam even angrier.

_Why did you have to invite your parents this weekend? You always bug me to talk to you more But you don't listen you dumb- No, it's not your fault. You didn't know._

Nothing feels dirtier than knowingly placing the blame on someone innocent. Still, the timing could not have been worse. There is no way that she could ask Cat to lend her the money to go see her mom, not with the way she threw a tantrum. Her roommate would understand, but it really wouldn't feel right taking that money again.

The image of seeing her mom with tubes and wires haunted Sam. She had been shaking it away for the past couple weeks, and Sam was playing the part of someone not terminally ill extremely well if you don't count the past couple of days. But actually thinking about her mom…

_She's going to die soon anyways. You aren't even going to get there in time to say goodbye._

That was hardly a comfort. It was more like a thick layer of concrete if anything. Accepting a problem with cynicism made it easier to deal. However, it never made the hurt go away. Sam shot up and started pacing the floor.

"Dammit, Cat," she muttered under her breath. She didn't mean it in the least, but they were the only words she could find. She sighed.

_Were you even going to tell her this weekend?_

Now Sam just felt pathetic. At the very least, she could admit what she had out loud. If she had been thinking about her mother's inevitable and painful death and still able to keep a straight face, why is it that the mere idea of breaking the news to someone WHO WASN'T TERMINALLY ILL so jarring?

_It's her innocence._

The part that really pissed Sam off is that she wasn't even sure that Cat would even understand what was going on. Sam would have to explain it in a bunch of terms until she would have to literally pull out a sign that read "I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm going to die!"

_I needed the weekend so that she could take a comprehensive class on what the fuck I'm talking about. But then again, who am I to talk down to her?_

For one thing, Sam didn't even really know what was going on. So she had poison blood. What does that mean? Does that mean that she's just going to keel over dead? It didn't make any sense. Not even the doctors could make sense of it. What made anyone think that stupid Cat Valentine would understand a virus that randomly takes your life?

Sam kicked the couch and pain shot through her body and up to her brain. She sat back down on the couch and rubbed her foot. To her surprise, she was crying.

_Man, I really hurt my foot, _Sam tried to tell herself.

She kept triggering the pain to explain why she was so hurt. Something inside of her was about to break. At first she was afraid that maybe Toxic Blood was going to strike suddenly. But she wasn't in that much denial.

_Yep. I hurt my foot. Real bad. It's my foot. It's my foot._

She punched herself in the foot which almost made her cry out in pain. Then she fell to her knees and buried her hands in her face.

"Goddamit, Cat. Goddamit," she whimpered.

What Sam feared even more than Cat's innocence was her complete and utter understanding. Cat wasn't that much of a child. She would know when something is going on. Even without the medical terms, Cat could understand that sick people have a tendency to die. Her big black eyes would tear up and squint. She would grab onto Sam and plead for her not to die. But what truly scared Sam was the idea that she wouldn't be able to comfort her. Sam had been given an expiration date.

_Will it happen next week? Will I just die before I tell her? I'm still a damn kid, why am I even thinking about this? Hell, she's still a kid. Why is this her problem, why is this our problem?_

Sam stood up again and ran over to the sink. She wanted to throw up, but was left with nothing but dry heaves. Even when she splashed water on her face, it didn't soothe her. In fact, it left her with a sensation of drowning. She knocked the faucet back and the water stopped. She still backed far away from it and tried to catch her breath. This was then met with more sobs.

"Cat, I'm so afraid," Sam gasped. Nobody answered.

_She's deserves better than this. I don't want her to see me like this. She shouldn't be scared._

A new haunt entered Sam's consciousness. This time, she was in the bed. Her arms were way thinner than what they actually would be, as her death was supposedly sudden. But seeing people emaciated was the only way Sam knew death. Sam saw herself as skeletal, pale, and her head exposed to the elements. A machine beeped only a few feet away, but as Sam faded out, it could very well have been in another room. Everything around her was fuzzy because her brain would be useless in such a broken vessel. Breathing would be painful. Sam could feel her real life breathing become labored.

Among the depressing beige ceiling tiles and mild scent of disinfectant wafting through the air, one thing kept Sam's failing eyes focused. A blurry mass of crimson hair and tan skin hovered above her with two big dark dots contorting. This was supposed to be Sam's moment of clarity. Death was supposed to be the most orgasmic experience that anyone ever has. However, a soft crying far away and right next to her face stopped it. The last thought in Sam's head would be how she failed.

She screamed silently and tried to rip her hair out. Nothing came out of it. Her knees were brought up to her chest for comfort. Sometimes, she would pretend like they were another person.

_Cat… Cat… I can't. I can't do this._

Her eyes caught on the wrinkled and battered bags of groceries strewn on the floor. Cans of ingredients of some sort had rolled across the floor, but that isn't what she saw. Sam got on her hands and knees and moved towards them in an effort to calm her breathing. Her hand sifted through the bag until they hit a small box of kitchen knives. They weren't as heavy as she initially thought.

_I don't want it to hurt._

Sam went into the bathroom and pulled out some child's cough syrup. She wasn't planning on ODing or anything, as she didn't even think that would work. It was the best sedative that she could find though. All she asked was that she died in peace. All she wanted to do was die first, without a trail of broken hearts.

Not only was the liquid was too thick, but it had the exact same flavor of the snow cones. She kind of giggled at the idea of that being the actual flavoring, but then recoiled when she thought about how morbid that was. The cardboard on the knives didn't peel away cleanly, but then again, it's not like they would ever be used after this. When the blade pierced into her wrist, her whole body tensed up. The pain compelled her to push even harder. She did it three more times. Then four times on the other wrist. Soon, she was left eight little jail stripes up her arm, and they were turning a deeper red.

Sam walked over to their room and just stood in the doorway. It was too dark to see anything, but very faint snoring could be heard only a few feet away from her. As much as she wanted to touch her, she knew that the only way for her to die with dignity was in utter silence. Words rolled around in her lips, but they never escaped.

_You'll be safe this way, kid. _

Maybe it was the medicine, or maybe everything just turned surreal. It was like Sam was forced into a tunnel and out the other side. She realized that she wasn't okay with this. Her whole body leaned against the door frame and she imagined Cat's silhouette. That darling face. Those little dimples. Suddenly, Cat was never going to laugh again. That's what hurt the most. But Sam pushed forward and left her friend in the dark. Sam set herself on the couch and clasped her hands together.

_Please let her be mad at me. Please, please let her be mad at me. She deserves to be angry, even if it's at me._

Her eyes were getting even heavier now, and she was just about to fade out before her final thought for the night occurred.

_I forgive you mom. I'm not angry anymore._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Before Sam's eyes even had the premonition to flutter open, she felt an incessant itching creeping up her arms. Some kind of crust had dried over her flesh. She raised her hand to her face with her eyelids still closed. The realization hit her and her eyes sprung open.

"No," she said in a gasp.

Sam sprang to her feet and she began to pace back and forth. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought the scabs on her arms would spurt with blood. She had no idea what to do with any of her limbs so she just flexed them.

"No, no, no," she kept muttering. With each new pace she got a little louder and her white flesh just a little pinker. "No! No! No!"

Her fists slammed into the soft couch. She was certainly strong enough to burst the soft pillows, and that's what happened next. Tears were burning her face as she walked along the hard wood floor destroying everything in her path. Glass shards were spread across the ground and thrown with such force that it seemed like dust. Stuffing and cotton was strewn everywhere leaving the living room looking like an artificial winter wonderland. All Sam wanted was for the ground to break under her and swallow her up. But with as each article simply scattered like light as it was forced down, Sam's breathing became heavier and soon faded with the sobs.

Cat was awoken from her slumber and wandered out of the safety of her bedroom without much thought. She didn't even notice that Sam was missing from her bed. Cat stepped out of the murky darkness of the room with drawn shades and entered into the living room which was just beginning to glow with dawn. Instead of hearing the gruff and scary voices that she expected the bad guys to have, the sounds she heard were higher and easily swallowed up by the ruckus. Cat hit the light switch. There, stood Sam with her back turned and her maize hair knotted.

"Sam…?" Cat asked in fear. Her body was turned in case Sam was to throw something at her.

Sam's limbs ceased. All of her anger left her and all that was left was her empty brain. She kept her arms away from her body as though she was in fear of poisoning herself. There wasn't a sufficient answer for her to give, so she just stood.

"Sam, what happened?" asked Cat, her voice shaking.

"Just go back to bed, Cat" said Sam. Her voice like static and up an octave. In a lot of ways, the height of her voice gave the appearance of her being excited, but it was the only thing she could muster. Cat must have been too scared to answer, a foot step rang out from behind Sam's head, but she immediately interrupted it.

"Don't worry Cat, I'll clean it up. Just go back to sleep." This time she sounded even brighter.

Cat saw the destruction around her. So many things couldn't be salvaged. She could even see that Sam had smashed the plates with food on them. The TV wasn't broken, but it had tipped over and had been covered by debris.

"You're not going to clean up," said Cat. She took another step forward.

Sam seized up again. Her heart was beating fast and she was starting to cry once more.

"Sam… why did you do this?" asked Cat with probably the most sincere curiosity that Sam had ever gotten from her. However, she still couldn't answer.

"What's going on?"

Sam's biggest mistake was letting out a sob.

"Sam?" Cat asked as she rushed over to her. Her hands went and draped themselves on Sam's shoulders, and each one felt like a lead glove. Sam slapped them off.

"I'm fine," she yelled but still trying to keep calm. "Just sleep. Don't be scared."

More heavy breathing could be heard behind her, coming from Cat. Cat chocked something out in between tears.

"How could you tell me not to be scared? You broke all of our stuff. I thought you were going to hurt me."

Sam's stance relaxed a little bit. She only turned her head a little bit, but she kept her body towards the wall.

"I'm sorry Cat. I'm not going to scare you again. Please, go back to sleep. I'm going to clean this up, I swear."

There was a stomp to the hard wood that even with all the shattered glass, seemed to blow out Sam's eardrums.

"I don't care if you clean this up," her voice cracked. "Why did you break all of our stuff? We just got leant money, Sam. We're going to have to move out at this rate. Is this a joke to you? Do you not care that we're poor? You call me a kid, but you're always doing stuff like this!" Cat was interrupted by Sam.

Her knees thudded to the wood. Her hands then clasped over her eyes. All Cat could see was her shoulders as they violently shook up and down. It was beyond just sobbing now, Sam was now making audible noises, even if they were muted by her fingers. Though she could barely make it out, Sam was saying, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry".

Cat took a step back. In a way, she was even more frightening. Sam had cried before, but it had never been so empty. There was something in the way that her body shook. She seemed so young, and so vulnerable. She reminded Cat of play dough, because her body was just moving like it was being manipulated. It chilled Cat's blood, but softened her heart.

"Sam, are you okay?" she asked in her loss of words.

Sam's noises got louder and she spun around. She sprung up and wrapped around Cat's shoulders. It happened with such force that Cat almost lost her footing, but once regained, she embraced Sam back. Her shirt was getting really wet, but she didn't care. All Cat wanted was for Sam to be warm. They lead each other over to the couch and sat.

Even with the lightbulb, there was still a tint of the pale blue morning in the windows. The girls continually had to shift due to the sheer destruction of the couch. Cat really was kind of amazed by Sam though. She had never held her long enough to really feel her. For whatever reason, Cat always saw Sam as some kind of mythical creature. She never thought of her as a thing that would have blood or bones. And yet, there was her tiny skeleton pressed up against Cat's skeleton. Every so often, a shoulder would get in the way and it had this odd mixture of hard from the bone and yet soft from the flesh that Cat couldn't even be annoyed. Cat's palm would drum against her friend's back in an act of comfort and a tiny vibration would ring throughout Sam's torso. And after a while, Sam's fingers climbed up Cat's spine and into her hair where they tangled into the locks hanging from her shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, Cat" Sam barely said.

Cat was confused.

"Why are you sorry?"

Sam's still violently vibrating body separated itself from hers, but the shaking got even worse. She slowly and tepidly moved her wrists forward. At first, Cat wasn't even sure what she was looking at. The red substance on her arms almost had a shimmer to it. In fact, it was almost looking purple. Though it was mostly concentrated in the center, it had splattered across her arms a bit. There was even a tiny bit on her shirt, and that's really the only reason Cat could assume that the substance was red. But the little crevices leading to her veins made Cat finally realize that it was blood. There was dried blood all across Sam's arms. Cat began shaking and the whites of her eyes seemed twice as big. She moved her torso away from her friend. New tears formed in her eyes.

"Sam why is there blood on your arms?"

Sam was taken aback. She wasn't sure if Cat really didn't understand.

"Cat, I… I made the blood on my arms."

Cat buried her face in her hands.

"Why?"

Sam glared at her.

"Because it looked real pretty on my shirt," she snarled. Sam was then met with a sharp pain to her face and Cat storming into the kitchen.

"Cat!" Sam called out.

Now Cat's back was turned. Her hands were up to her face and she seemed shrunken. Sam automatically softened. She found her apology octave.

"Cat, I'm sorry. I'll be more patient. Cat, I tried to hurt myself…"

"I already fucking know that!" Cat screamed.

The moments after that were so charged that it left Sam paralyzed with her big blue eyes wide open. Cat's voice was like a very injured animal on its last leg of a fight ready for the biggest blow of its life.

"You think I don't know that, Sam? You think that I don't know what suicide is? You think I'm that stupid?"

Sam didn't answer.

"Maybe I am that stupid." Cat collapsed onto the kitchen floor. Sam rushed to her side on the linoleum.

"You aren't stupid, Cat," she said as she tried to grab onto Cat's hand. She shook off Sam's hand.

"I couldn't help you. I was busy with my problems and I couldn't help you. I'm either stupid or I'm evil."

"You aren't stupid. You aren't either of those things"

Cat's chin quivered.

"Then why did you do this? Why do you hurt yourself?"

No answer.

Pressure was building up in Cat's head. That's the ultimate form of powerlessness. It's those moments when the brain is unable to deal with the events anymore and flushes it throughout the body. Sometimes it's met with tears. Sometimes we get up and leave. Sometimes time stops moving. But Cat was overtaken in a different way. She grabbed onto Sam's arm and she pressed her lips to the wound. It had a rusty musk to it that sat upon Cat's tongue. She moved her head away from Sam's arm and embraced her once again.

"I can't make you better, can I?" she asked.

Sam shook her head. Her chin scraping across Cat's shoulder gave her the answer.

"Sam?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Sam whispered.

No words were spoken. The gears were turning in Cat's little red head. When she was ready to speak, she pressed Sam just a little tighter.

"I love you more than anyone else in the whole world. And I want you to be with me forever."

Sam's body went numb, but in a good way. It wasn't like the pain was overwhelming anymore, rather, it washed over her. She felt something real that wasn't flooded with her own paranoia. This was her real sadness, and it all stemmed from a girl with strawberry colored hair. If she could have, she would have brought Cat in tighter.

"So do I. That's why I did it, Cat."

Cat's grip loosened a bit.

"Cat, I'm real sick." Sam made the decision to try and be strong, and it was easy when the little eyes contorted.

"There is this virus that runs in a few families. Not very many. It's very rare. It's something to do with your blood, the virus turns it poisonous. It spreads it all throughout your body. They don't know much about it…"

"Sam…" Cat whimpered.

"Cat, my sister got diagnosed with it a few weeks ago. My mom apparently didn't contract it until she was pregnant with us. I took that money because the only test for it is very expensive. But Cat… I'm positive for it."

Cat wiped off her lips, but then slunk down in embarrassment. She gripped onto Sam's hand so tight that it was probably turning purple, but Sam didn't have it in her to shake it off.

"It's not treatable. They predicted my mom, sister, and I have the same amount of time, and my mom is in the hospital right now." Suddenly, time stopped. "Cat, I might die."

In an instant, she wasn't "strong" anymore. She started crying like a baby and fell into Cat's lap. She squeezed her fists and wished something else would break. Cat's warmth seemed to hurt her even more.

"I don't want to die, Cat."

Cat said something, and Sam never quite found out what it was, but she believed that she said, "Then why did you do this to yourself?"

"I don't want to hurt you," whimpered Sam. "I would rather have everyone angry with me."

"I wouldn't be angry. I would just be incredibly hurt."

Sam whimpered even harder.

"Cat?" Sam asked.

"Yeah?" answered Cat.

"I don't want my mom to die either. I'm so scared."

Cat's heart and lungs were heavy. It was like her blood weighed as much as molten lead.

_How do I save her?_ She thought.

There Sam was. She was alive. Perhaps more alive than she had been in a while. For the first time in her life, she wasn't burdened by being strong. Yet it was finite. Sam's time on Earth had gone from a thought they never needed to think, to an uncertain event. People die. Nona would die soon too. Goomer could die in a fight, who knows? Death was real to Cat, perhaps for the first time in her life. What truly got her deep though was the fact that death was only closing in on those around her. She was still alive and perfectly healthy. A thought crept into her empty little head, and filled all the spaces.

_Will everyone I know die before me? Am I always going to be alone?_

Her hand was still brushing across the blond hair in her lap, but Cat had stopped crying. In fact, she didn't shed a tear the whole rest of the morning. It wasn't immediate, but Cat soon found her face changing. Cat's eyebrows went from cocked up, to perfectly straight lines. Her little pink lips no longer hung open in aghast, but were pushed together with the white teeth in her mouth now pressed together. When the sun was officially in the sky and Sam had drifted from her sobbing into a deep slumber, Cat's eyes were no longer black holes in which to soak up information. It's not something that can be described with any of the senses. It was just that after that day, Cat's eyes had become vessels to see, nothing more. Nobody could see her, or at least, not in the obvious way that they could before.

Sam's chest rose and fell as she escaped deeper and deeper into the peace that she had missed that evening. Her mouth was open enough for drool to roll from her mouth onto the fabric of Cat's pants. As unpleasant as the discovery was, Cat couldn't imagine moving her. Not only that, but the only thing keeping her going was the idea that at least in that very second, Sam had some kind of peace. Who knew if she would find it again?

_How can I save her? _Cat thought again.

Sam Puckett was never one to be saved. They met because Cat had gotten stuck in a garbage truck. Sam saved her. Sam wasn't her friend, her best friend, or even a sister. To Cat, Sam was her hero. And a hero never needs saving.

_How can I save her?_ Cat thought for the last time.

_You Can't._

It was with that thought that reality left Cat's brain and ambition filled the cracks. Even though she moved with haste, she managed to move her friend's head from her lap and onto the linoleum. She made a makeshift bed for her friend and was briefly enchanted by how hopelessly sleepy her friend was. However, Cat did not feel the need to be caught up in the moment. She took one bag and filled it with everything she needed. Her pajama wrapped legs carried her out the door towards Dice's apartment. She stood outside his window and knocked on the glass. He shifted a bit. Cat didn't want to resort to using her voice and waking everyone else up. Luckily, he finally got up after only a couple more knocks. Like a ragdoll, the boy glided to the window and managed to open it with some difficulty.

"Cat?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Dice," Cat said with urgency. "I need you to get me something right now."

"Right now?" He asked as he tried to process everything.

"Right. Now," she answered sternly.

Dice scanned her up and down.

"You look awful. And it's a Saturday."

"Dice, listen, I'll pay you back. But stay focused."

Dice cocked his head up, but still stood in a loose pose.

Cat's hand rummaged through the bag at her side and pulled out a blue rectangle. The buttons were sticking on it, and the strap on the side had been stained from white to a very light gray.

"Is that the same brand of remote that Sam had on iCarly?" Dice tried to put everything together.

"Yep. I need you to help me program it to say some things. Can you teach me how to use the equipment?" She asked.

If it had been any other morning, the idea of teaching Cat anything would have met the girl with a slammed window in her face. But not today. It was easy to see that something was different. Dice didn't have the drive in him to ask any questions, but he took the request regardless. After a rather long tutorial, Cat was sent home with the program that would let her work the remote. After spending an eternity programming the damn thing, Cat took off to her Nona's. There, Cat was given the permission to use the oven. She also stopped by Sam's favorite chicken place and loaded up the little pink bike with as much as it could hold. By this point, Cat's little bird legs were aching, but she knew that there was still much to be done. After a couple of last minute tweaks, Cat set the remote by Sam's head.

She woke up about thirty minutes later. Though initially shaken by waking up in the kitchen, the pillow and blanket assured Sam that none of it was a dream. Everything was still broken and she was honestly more focused on what she promised she would clean up. However, a little blue rectangle with a note that read "press in order. NO CHEATING" caught her eye. After staring at it for a minute, Sam pressed the first button.

"Good morning, Sam" it screeched. It wasn't the most pleasant noise to hear first thing in the morning, but at least she knew her friend's spirit wasn't dampened. Sam elected to push the second button.

At first, it was silent with some scratches off in the distant. After a couple of seconds it finally sounded.

"-o to the safe in our room. I got something-" and it promptly cut off.

Not appealed by the idea of getting up but still lead by her curiosity, Sam trudged through the danger zone of their living room. She was extra careful with walking over glass as she wanted to be positive that no blood got on the floor. In their room, another sign was on the door. It was written on disgustingly pink paper. It read: "press button 3". Sam obeyed.

"Go through the safe, but close your eyes."

She moaned as she climbed into the dark hole. She clamped her eyes tight and slid on her butt so that her feet would go first. The idea of falling head first into some concrete was not an appealing one. The maroon color on her eyelids began changing to a dim orange as she approached the light. Her feet hung off the side of the safe for a minute.

"Cat," she called out. "I need to open my eyes." A little finger weaseled its way in between her own and it fumbled around her hand. It finally pressed down on what Sam presumed to be the fourth button.

"Open your eyes," it instructed.

The tiny room expanded into Sam's view. The first thing she noticed was the drab concrete walls and the way it was laden with cracks. It was soon interrupted by someone's hair. Sam was then met with a tan little face that had dark bags under its eyes. However, there was a smile there. Perhaps not as big as what she was used to, but it was a happy smile nonetheless. Two little arms stuck out with a tiny pie tin in the middle.

"Cat, what is this?" Sam asked.

Her eyes wandered a little bit more and she noticed the wall of buckets stationed behind her friend. Suddenly, chicken scent was over powering.

"It's a brownie pie," Cat's little voice croaked. "I finally made it for you."

The pie was clearly only big enough for one person. She pushed it into Sam's fingers. Meanwhile, Sam spun around a bit. Cat had even put up the two measly balloons that were hung from the walls with band aids. Cat's stance was wavering a bit, and Sam set down the pie to reach out to stabilize her.

"Cat, did you do this for me?" Sam asked. The inside of her was extremely soft and malleable. She couldn't take her eyes off of Cat's weary little face. Her eyelids were hanging over her eyes, and two dimples were poking through her tired and stony smile. Cat let out a nod and a very quiet "mmhmm." Since Sam already had a hold of her shoulders, she gently led her friend down to the ground.

"You didn't have to do this," Sam started.

Cat was already spreading herself out on the ground as she prepared to take a well-deserved nap. The last thing she uttered before sleeping was, "press the last button."

Sam's finger clicked on it. At first, a bit of static was heard and some mumbling. However, she was caught off guard by the sudden clarity of the voice coming from the speaker.

"Hello Sam Puckle," Cat's electronic voice started.

_Oh god,_ thought Sam as she braced herself for Cat's mindless droning.

"I'm Cat, and we live together right now. We own a babysitting service, and we have fun every day."

_I'm sick, that doesn't mean I have dementia_ Sam snickered. The tone immediately shifted though.

"Recently, I found out that you got sick. You might be really sick. I'm not going to lie, I don't really know how sick you are. All I know is that you're sick enough to die."

That shifted the already serious tone.

"Truth is, I don't know what's going to happen to us. We might not be babysitting together forever. I guess it was silly to think that anything was going to be forever, but I always thought we would stop because we got sick of each other. I didn't think that it would end…"

There was a pause in Cat's speech. She took a couple of deep breaths.

"It's okay though, Sam." Cat's voice was trembling and a lot quieter. "It's really okay. You're probably really scared and confused, but don't worry, I am too."

Sam could feel herself heating up again.

"I don't want to lose anyone. The only thing I want is for you, me, Dice, Nona, and Goomer to be a happy family. Even if Nona is the only one by blood, you guys are the best family in the world. I've never felt more loved than I have with you guys. And even though I didn't meet you first, I think you're always going to be my favorite."

Sam's lip was trembling.

"Sam, you matter to me more than anyone else I've ever met. I really wish that I could protect you like you always protected me. But…"

There was silence. Cat's breathing implied that she was doing her best to be strong.

"… I don't think I can. But that doesn't mean I can't be strong like you. You're brave Sam."

The scars on Sam's arms suddenly burned her with shame.

"I'm going to be brave too. And I am going to save you. I'm going to save you from being scared, and I'm going to be scared for the both of us. I promise you, Sam Puckett, that I will make every day of your life so great that you won't have time to be scared. I don't care if it's for 100 years, 1 year, or just today. I'm going to make every day of your life exciting, fun, and beautiful just like you."

There was a tiny crack in her speech.

"Because thanks to you, every day of my life has been like that. And I can't thank you enough. Thank you for making my every day worth living."

Sam saw Cat blissfully sleeping on the ground. She was curled up into a little ball. Perhaps she had found the peace that she had prayed that Sam had found in her slumber. Sam walked over to her and shook her. Sam couldn't leave her on the heartless concrete.

"Cat," she crooned.

Cat's eyelids fluttered open. She made a little noise to imply her curiosity.

"Let's get out of this safe, okay," Sam whispered gently.

"Kuhkay," Cat mumbled.

Sam draped Cat's arm around her shoulder and she lead her out of the safe. Their feet brushed against the rug and Sam draped her friend over the candy colored mattress. Even though Cat's eyes fell shut almost immediately, she was still breathing normally, and her face was stern. Sam took a moment just to stare at her. Sam went into the bathroom to wash and dress her wounds, and she came out of the bathroom with two thick bandages on either wrist. To her surprise, Cat still seemed to be awake.

"Cat, are you still awake?" Sam asked in a hushed tone.

Cat let out a little moan and answered, "yeah."

Sam laughed at her. She was so much like a little kid. She was trying to stay out past her bed time.

"Go to bed," Sam said as she chuckled. "You've had a long morning."

Cat let out a yawn and shifted onto her side.

"Sam?" she asked.

"Yeah, kid?" answered Sam.

"Did you like your present?"

Something about that hit a nerve inside of Sam. At first, she didn't know why.

As much as Cat was still so much like a child, for the first time, Sam really saw her as an adult. She never thought herself above Cat even if she was the more intellectually savvy. But it was hard to take Cat seriously as a full-fledged peer sometimes what with the flowery bike and her extreme innocence. But her gesture this morning forced Sam to understand her friend for the first time. Underneath the stuffed animals, strange questions, and silly clothes, Cat wasn't stupid. Cat was never stupid. Even if she didn't quite see the same things that everyone else saw, she still understood the things that mattered. Cat might not have realized it, but that gesture made Sam realize that her friend was going to be okay. It didn't matter what face of tragedy Caterina Valentine would face, because she would never forget what was important to her. Sam would live on through Cat's unwavering love.

Sam walked up to the bed and put her hand on Cat's hair.

"I loved my present," Sam said.

Cat gave a lazy smile as Sam lowered herself onto the bed.

"Cat?" asked Sam.

"Yeah?"

"Can I lay by you for a while?" Same asked.

To anyone else, the question would have seemed strange. But then again, nothing was strange to her.

"Of course," she answered.

Sam snuggled up to her. Their body heat met in a calming was. It wasn't shocking like it was when they were in hysterics. This warmth was like the sun. It was just something natural. There was no energy, friction, or strife. Just their bond as they got close. This was the missing piece. Cat was finally able to sleep, knowing that her friend was still okay and by her side.

After a lifetime of loneliness, Sam and Cat now knew, without a doubt, that neither one of them would ever truly be alone.


End file.
